


Windows

by MadBiscuitLady



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkwardness, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-14
Updated: 2014-10-14
Packaged: 2018-02-21 03:16:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2452730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadBiscuitLady/pseuds/MadBiscuitLady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bertholdt couldn't pinpoint the exact moment when it had happened, but his feelings for his best friend had evolved into something troublesome...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Windows

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this 3 months ago while waiting for my sims game to load.

The soothing sound of the needle as it glided along the record's surface before it began to play its tune was probably the most wonderful sound Bertholdt had ever heard. He flopped onto his bed and let the opening keys of the Doors “Riders on the Storm” fill his room. A distant rumble of thunder could be heard from outside his bedroom window. How appropriate. It wasn't long before rain began to pelt the glass, gently at first before graduating to a steady downpour.

On second thought, maybe this was actually the most wonderful sound in the world. He considered, watching the blades of his ceiling fan until his eyelids grew heavy. Sleep would arrive on the wings of Jim Morrison's voice, or at least it would have if there wasn't a sudden loud tapping at his bedroom window.

Bertholdt jerked upright from the unexpected noise, scooted off his bed and threw back the curtains as a well-timed flash of lightning revealed a soaking wet Reiner Braun staring back at him.

“JESUS CHRIST!” He leaped back, face flushing, totally unprepared for his friend's very unorthodox visit.

“Superstar,” Reiner finished pointedly, voice muffled from behind the glass. “Now let me in it's like a monsoon out here!” A crash of thunder further drove the observation home.

“Ah-uh, right.” Bertholdt unlocked the top of the window and heaved it open, fingers shaking from his rude awakening.

“Thanks, you're a lifesaver.” Reiner squeezed through feet first, shoes making a squelching noise as they connected with the floor.

Bertholdt frantically fumbled with closing the window against the wind and rain before turning to face his friend.

“Reiner, why couldn't you just go to the front door? Or call first?” He really shouldn't have been surprised. Throughout their lives Reiner was prone to these spontaneous kinds of visits, though this was the first time he ever attempted to enter through the bedroom window.

Reiner ran a hand through his wet hair, “Cuz it's late, and I didn't know if your parents were asleep. Got a towel? I'm kind of dripping all over your floor.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, causing his shoes to squelch some more for emphasis.

Bertholdt sighed, “Yeah, yeah hang on...” He exited down the hallway to the linen closet, the image of Reiner dripping wet with rain, t-shirt clinging to his well-toned body at the forefront of his mind.

Bertholdt couldn't pinpoint the exact moment when it had happened, but his feelings for his best friend had evolved into something troublesome. This had been going on for at least a few months now. He found it was getting increasingly difficult to handle Reiner and his carelessly jovial attitude. Reiner had always been very touchy-feely, but now his pats on the back, hand or an arm around Bertholdt's shoulder, or spine-crushing bear hugs all carried the risk of revealing his embarrassing crush. His heart would start pounding, sweat would break out of every pore, and his face was quick to turn an impressive shade of scarlet. In short, he was a wreck.

He returned, face considerably redder than before, tossing the towel to Reiner. “Anyway, my parents are gone for the week remember? They're visiting friends up in Vermont. Just how the hell did you get up here anyway?”

Maybe Reiner should have felt like he had wasted his time in climbing up to his friend's window when he could have just gone to the front door, but he was nonplussed. Door, window, tomato, tomaato, whatever.

“Oh,” He rubbed the towel over his head, “I just stood on that big landscaping rock thing and climbed up the lower end of the roof. Come to think of it you've got it easy if you ever needed to sneak out.”

Yeah right. The idea of him sneaking out of his house was downright laughable. Bertholdt had always been very obedient. He saw no reason to make waves. His parents worked long hours and were rarely at home. It wasn't that they didn't care, they always made sure to have birthdays and holidays free, they called daily to see how he was or to let him know if there something he could throw in the oven for dinner, but as time wore on, Bertholdt realized he didn't have any real attachment to his family. It was something that nagged at him when they were actually around. It was a horrible, guilty feeling.

“What are you even doing here Reiner? It's like...” He peered over at his alarm clock. “It's 10:15.”

“It's summer Bertl, it's not like I've got anywhere to be first thing in the morning, and neither do you.” He continued to attempt to dry himself off. There was no way Bertholdt was going to let him sit anywhere in his room unless he wanted a big wet ass print to be left behind.

As if sensing this exact train of thought, Bertholdt frowned, turned to his dresser and dug out a spare pair of sweat pants and an old, oversized t-shirt he had gotten from god knows where. “Put these on, you'll catch a cold or something.”

Reiner didn't need to be told twice, and immediately began to peel his wet t-shirt over his head, leaving a small shower of droplets in its wake.

Reiner used to be fairly stocky, but a combination of soccer, hockey, and puberty had shaped him up quite nicely. Oh God, why did he have to develop a crush on his best friend? This wasn't good, not good at all. Oh no he was really beautiful shirtless, oh no he was staring. Don't look! Don't! Oh there go his shorts...oh no. No no no no no...

“Oh my God Reiner!” He made the mistake of glancing over just in time to catch Reiner in the midst of pulling off his boxer shorts. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucccccccccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk.

“What? My underwear are soaked through too! I don't have anything you haven't seen before, so relax you weirdo.” He pulled on the sweats and picked up his wet clothes, staring at Bertholdt expectantly. “So like...what should I do with these?”

Bertholdt frowned, face still burning with embarrassment. Reiner was in his room, in a pair of his sweatpants. Commando. “We can throw them in the dryer downstairs.” He managed.

“Welp, after you fearless leader.”

“It's a basement, not some epic quest for the One Ring.”

“Nerrrrrdddddd.” He grinned jokingly as Bertholdt scowled back at him, face flushed.

Fuck, he was cute. Reiner had come to grips with the fact that he had fallen for his best friend ages ago. For all his charisma though, he still had no idea how the hell he was going to tell him. What if Bertholdt didn't feel the same way? Would he lose his friend? Would they ever be able to be in each others presence again? Reiner liked to believe that he had earned enough screw-up points in the tenure of their friendship that he could possibly get away with it.

Man Bertholdt was really red, why the hell was he blushing like that? Unless...nah, couldn't be. Bertholdt had always been prone to nervous behavior. Mustn't read too much into it.

Bertholdt stopped to turn the record player off, and slide the vinyl back into it's sleeve before returning it to it's place with the rest of his collection. “Ok, let's go.”

Reiner never really questioned Bertholdt's preference for vinyl. For him, it was just one of the things that made Bertholdt well, Bertholdt. It wasn't like he didn't own CD's, or an mp3 player, but he really seemed to enjoy the analog quality of his records more.

The storm seemed to be getting worse outside. Rain lashed at the windows, wind howled, and lightning practically lit up the hallway for them before Bertholdt even made it to the light switch.

“Jeez it's really coming down out there, good thing I got here when I did, I'd be blown halfway to Oz by now.”

“You'd make a terrible Dorothy.” Bertholdt laughed nervously.

“Yeah, can't say the ruby slippers would suite me either.”

A sudden large crack of thunder set off a car alarm somewhere nearby, causing them both to jump.

“Fuck, maybe we should just hang out in the basement till this blows over.”

Bertholdt nodded in agreement, opened the basement door and flipped the light switch. His legs felt like jello as he and Reiner descended the staircase.

Bertholdt's basement was encased in wood paneling and beige carpeting. Well except for the slatted doors that lead into the laundry room. A staple for any house built in the '70's. There were two small windows on the left side of the room positioned at the top of the wall, not even large enough for a child to squeeze through. It was enough for a glimpse of the rain and lightning wrecking havoc outside.

Bertholdt opened the cabinet in the laundry room above the washer and dryer and pulled a fabric softener sheet from the box, tossing it into the machine. He held out his hand for Reiner to pass him his wet clothes. Fuck his hands were shaky.

This observation didn't escape Reiner.

“Bertl...you ok?” a look of concern fell over his features as he handed him the wet clothes.

Bertholdt swallowed, his throat felt dry, “Y-yeah.” He tossed the clothes into the dryer and turned the knob to the correct setting. It was just Reiner, there was nothing to be nervous about, he was being ridiculous!

As if on cue, the lights flickered and with a groan the power went out. The muffled hiss of rain, wind and thunder became the only ambient noise surrounding them in the pitch darkness.

“Figures.” Reiner sighed.

“T-there's a flashlight in the cabinet here.” He felt around in the dark for the knob, opening the cabinet once more. Thankfully, the flashlight in question was still where it was supposed to be. Hands still shaking, he switched it on. “There's a storm lantern in the main room, some candles too,” he managed.

Alone. With Reiner. In the dark. How was he supposed to handle this? It was like a lame sitcom scenario.

He felt Reiner's hand on his wrist steadying his grip on the flashlight.

“Hey. Bertl, you're shaking like a leaf, are you sure you're ok?”

Damn his nerves. Reiner probably thought he was afraid of the storm. Bertholdt hadn't been scared of storms since he was 9 years old.

Before he could answer, a high pitched whine joined the symphony of wind, rain and thunder.

Shit, is that the tornado siren?” He turned his head towards the sound, hand still on Bertholdt's wrist.

“Sounds like it, probably a good thing we're already in the basement I guess...” Few people were probably ever relieved to hear such a thing. Maybe Reiner would be too distracted to question him further.

“No kidding.” Reiner's phone began to buzz angrily at him. He scowled and pulled the phone of his pocket. “And there's the warning from the weather app. Shit I better text my mom before she freaks out or something.” He released Bertholdt's wrist to tap out a quick message, mumbling as he did so.

“Alive. At Bertl's. Safe in basement. Crashing here for the night...”

Bertholdt breathed a quiet sigh of relief as Reiner absorbed himself with his phone. Inclement weather notwithstanding, this night was going to be the death of him.

They made their way back into the main part of the basement. There was a pull-out couch, a coffee table and an old tube TV set up along with a few older game consoles resting on the shelves of the television stand. The storm lantern in question was sitting on the top of an end table in the corner of the room. Bertholdt picked it up and tried the switch. A warm, orangey light filled the room. He set it on the coffee table along with the flashlight, and took a seat on the couch, hands clasped in his lap. Reiner followed, placing his phone on the table.

“Well I can't say this was how I envisioned spending the rest of the night.” He flopped onto the couch next to Bertholdt. In all honesty, he was seriously considering telling Bertholdt his feelings, but Bertholdt seemed very nervous and distracted. More so than usual in fact. He wasn't sure he wanted to drop that bomb on him in this state.

“I'm sorry.” Bertholdt replied. Why was he apologizing? He didn't control the weather.

“S'not your fault.” Reiner placed a reassuring hand on Bertholdt's shoulder, causing the taller boy to stiffen.

“Jesus Bertholdt you're really freaking tense right now.”

“I'm sorry.” He repeated dumbly. Shit.

There was no way in hell Reiner was going to accept that simple response. Reiner would get it out of him. He always got Bertholdt to speak up.

“Bertl, whatever's bothering you, you can tell me you know? We've been friends for like...our whole lives. I'm not going to judge you. You know that right?” He searched his friend's face, but Bertholdt had brought his legs up and had wrapped his arms around his knees. This was his ultimate defense.

“Come on Bertl, we start college next month, we're dorming together, I don't want you to feel the need to lock yourself up like this. I can't help you if you don't talk to me.”

Bertholdt shutting himself up wasn't a new thing, but this just seemed totally unprecedented. Reiner had no idea what had set him off. He stifled the need to wrap his arms around the taller boy and tell him just how much he really meant to him. He didn't need another reason for Bertholdt to retreat even further into his shell.

Bertholdt worried at his bottom lip, but remained quiet. The neighbor's garbage can rolling down the driveway as the storm continued to rage outside was the only noise to break the monotony of the uncomfortable silence between them.

Bertholdt hadn't forgotten about dorming with Reiner, what he had failed to consider was what the consequences of his feelings towards his friend would mean for their future living situation. Having to see Reiner everyday, living together, his smile, Reiner probably choosing to wander around the dorm room in nothing but a towel after a shower. Reiner dressing in the same room. Reiner...bringing girls back to the room?

That last one made his chest hurt. Bertholdt hadn't thought about that possibility either. He doubted he could stomach being in the same room with Reiner's potential “lady friends.” Would they go on dates? Would he shoo Bertholdt out of the room while he and his girlfriend...did things? He wasn't sure he could hide his feelings for that long. Truth be told, he was doing a piss-poor job of it right now. Fuck. He was going to have to tell him. Right here, right now. In the immortal words of the Doors: “The time to hesitate is through.”

He took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in his throat, “I like you.” He managed, hands clasping his knees tighter, palms sweaty. He couldn't bear to look at Reiner right now, choosing to focus on the shadows cast by the lantern instead. Maybe this was just as terrible of an idea as he feared it would be.

Reiner blinked, not sure if he had heard him correctly. “You-”

“I'm sorry.” He cut in. “I'll totally understand if you don't want to room with me anymore. Or...be friends anymore.” He trailed off. He had miscalculated. He felt tears begin to well up, his face was on fire and he felt uncomfortably warm all over. Stupid, so very stupid.

“Bertl...” He was an idiot. They both were.

Years of being friends and they were still blind to each others feelings.

Bertholdt felt Reiner's arm over his shoulder, pulling him closer. He let it happen, but kept his arms wrapped around his knees, bracing for the rejection. He wasn't sure why Reiner was being so nice about this. Maybe he was just letting him down gently.

Reiner's voice was warm and full of reassurance. “Bertl, I like you too. Hell, I've liked you for...well, I don't even know how long now...”

Bertholdt lifted his head and stared at Reiner with widened eyes. He knew he had heard what Reiner said, but his brain felt foggy and his heart was still pounding, only for an entirely different set of reasons now.

Reiner just smiled and tugged him closer so that their foreheads touched, “You beat me to the punch though. Way to go.”

It was at this point that Bertholdt came to understand just how much he freaking loved Reiner Braun. More than the sound of rain, more than the initial pops and crackles that came before a song began to play on his old turntable, maybe even more than Jim Morrison.

His mouth was on Reiner's in an instant. Bertholdt suddenly realized he had never actually kissed anyone before and had no idea what he was doing, and holy crap was he really doing this?! It felt amazing and Reiner made no motion to stop him. On the contrary, it seemed that Reiner was trying to give him a run for his money as he kissed him back with a borderline desperate intensity.

They separated long enough to reposition themselves, Reiner, pulling Bertholdt on top of him, hand on the back of the taller boy's neck, joining their lips once more.

Was it even still storming anymore? Although, if a tornado had in fact touched down neither Reiner nor Bertholdt would have even cared.

They continued on this way, drinking each other in, expressing fondness through touch rather than with words. That suited them just fine, they had months of tension to work out.

Unfortunately, they were both tall, so the couch wasn't really working out as far as comfort went.

“Hey, this couch pulls out right?” Reiner asked breathlessly.

“Uh, yeah...”

“Why don't we open it up and just sleep down here tonight?”

“You-you want to share?” Reiner had slept over plenty of times before, but they had never once shared a bed.

“Unless you don't want me to. I can take the floor.”

“No, it's fine, I just...I didn't-”

Reiner's response was to just kiss him again.

“Ok.” Bertholdt's voice came out a little squeakier than he would have preferred. He wasn't even sure what he was responding to.

They moved the coffee table off to the side and unfolded the sofa bed. Reiner sat on the edge as Bertholdt grabbed the blanket that had been draped over the back of the couch. It was an old brown hand-crocheted blanket that was probably older than he was. It had a slight musty scent from sitting in the basement for so long, but it would do.

“Is this ok-” His words were interrupted by Reiner grabbing a fistful of his t-shirt, tugging him down towards him and pressing his mouth to his again.

“It's perfect.” He murmured inbetween kisses, arms snaking around Bertholdt's waist to...

...pull him down to the bed with him. Of course, he should have known.

Bertholdt landed beside Reiner with a surprised yelp. The couch creaked ominously and they both stared awkwardly at one another as if they expected it to fold back up with the two of them inside it.

“Shit, maybe I shouldn't have done that...”

“Reiner, I don't really want to die on my basement couch.”

“Point taken. Don't worry Bertl, I will protect you from the Venus Fly-Couch.”

He stared at Reiner, brow furrowed. “...what?”

Reiner just chuckled and scooted closer to Bertholdt, reaching over to yank the blanket out from underneath him. He threw it over the two of them and wrapped his arms around the other boy.

Bertholdt just melted into the embrace, arms around Reiner's neck sighing contentedly.

“Should have done this sooner.” Reiner mumbled into the taller boy's neck.

“Mm.” It was easy to say that now knowing the result. Bertholdt doubted he could have done anything about it earlier. Reiner on the other hand, was always very open with his feelings. If anything Reiner would have been the one to sit him down and profess his undying affection for the other. It probably would still have been awkward, but with far less embarrassment and mental anguish...maybe.

They dozed off comfortably in each others arms until the power came back on 20 some odd minutes later filling the room with light and allowing the dryer to start back up. The appliance's jarringly loud noise effectively scared the ever living shit out of both of them.

“The hell!?” Reiner sat straight up, fight or flight instincts kicking in, eyes darting around the room looking for the potential threat.

Bertholdt just started to laugh. “You should see your face.”

“Hey you were startled too!”

“Yeah, but I wasn't resolved to take on whatever invisible menace appeared.”

“Tch, whatever.” He flopped back down on the sofa bed and pulled the blanket back over himself. “I guess it stopped storming then.”

“It seems that way. So uh...you gonna get the light?”

“I just got comfy. You do it.”

“I've been comfy, you do it.”

“No you.”

“I'm not doing this with you right now.”

“You infinity?”

“Ugh...fine.”

Bertholdt rolled off the sofa bed, pushed open the laundry room door, hitting the edge of his shoulder on the way inside in his sleep-addled stupor. He twisted the knob to the off position and the dryer stuttered to a halt. It would have just woken them up again in roughly half an hour with its incessant buzzing. Luckily, there was a secondary light switch at the foot of the stairs, so he didn't have to climb all the way up just to shut the main basement light off.

With no further distractions left, Bertholdt returned to the sofa bed. “You're kind of a jerk when you're tired you know that?” He muttered as he pulled back the blanket and crawled into bed.

A pair of warm arms were waiting for him. “Sleep now. Argue later.”

Bertholdt had to admit, that was an idea he could get behind. He snuggled beside Reiner, breathing in his scent. Eventually they both drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Bertholdt had exacted his revenge (unbeknownst even to himself), as Reiner woke up with his bed mate's head positioned directly on top of his bladder.

It was fine. Seeing Bertholdt like this, so reserved, so peaceful, without a trace of worry across his features, he really didn't want to disturb that. He lightly ran his fingers through Bertholdt's messy hair. Whatever happened here on out, at least they would have each other, and if nothing else the events of the last 24 hours would be one hell of a story.

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully this wasn't as long and meandering as I think it became. I can't write smut, but fluff, fluff I can do. 
> 
> Did you catch the little Empire Records reference? I headcanon Bertholdt as a Doors junkie. I highly recommend reading this while listening to Riders on the Storm and Light My Fire.


End file.
